Terrance Laney serves as the administrator for the Department of Housing and Community Development’s Rental Conversion and Sale Division. In that role, which he’s held since 2019, he is tasked with enforcing tenant rights.

As CASD administrator, Laney has taken a hands-off approach, forcing some tenants to pursue long and costly legal battles to enforce their rights, according to City Paper’s review of Tenant Opportunity to Purchase (TOPA) Act complaints and lawsuits. 

But Laney also works a side gig through his private law firm where he advertises compliance services for landlords. An Instagram ad for his firm announces: “This year is going to be a huge turnaround year for DC landlords. Contact me ASAP for a consultation,” adding, “Several new exemptions from TOPA and other changes to the law provide landlords seeking to sell their properties with more clarity and certainty.”

“It’s pretty shocking. … You’re not supposed to be doing stuff that relates to your government job,” attorney and Shadow Senator Paul Strauss says of Laney’s dual roles. “If it’s not an actual conflict, it certainly creates the appearance of one, which, in and of itself, is problematic.”

In response to questions about the potential conflict, Laney says that his private legal work primarily focuses on trusts, wills, and estates. He’s only handled a few landlord-tenant eviction cases, he says, where he has represented both tenants and landlords. He emphasizes that none of his firm’s cases have to do with TOPA.

“I’ve taken every D.C. government ethics course about outside employment, and I’m very well aware of what the rules are,” Laney tells City Paper over the phone. “I’m not prohibited from having an additional job. I’m not prohibited in any way by working for myself outside of what I do at DHCD, so long as I’m not doing it on company time with company equipment and also marketing myself outside or trading on my position in D.C. government.”

Laney adds that he checks for conflicts before taking on any private client and would recuse himself from cases related to his agency responsibilities. He says he informed DHCD and the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability about his outside employment, but he would not confirm that either agency gave him official approval.

“You can scour my website,” Laney says. “If you take the time, you won’t even see any reference to the D.C. government.” 

But when City Paper checked the site following the interview, it appeared to have been scrubbed. It now displays only a photo of Laney with the text “Coming Soon.”

One of the deleted pages was saved on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. It says: “I help landlords comply with Washington, DC housing laws by guiding them through complex regulations, lease requirements, tenant rights, and local compliance standards. From drafting enforceable leases to advising on rent control, housing code obligations, and lawful eviction procedures, I help landlords avoid costly mistakes while protecting their property interests.” 

Another deleted page from Laney’s website says: “Legal help for landlords shouldn’t be expensive or complicated. I provide affordable, straightforward legal services for small property managers and landlords – so you can protect your property and focus on managing it with confidence.” “Compliance” and “enforcement” are listed among the firm’s core services. 

While D.C. government employees are not banned from outside employment, D.C.’s Ethics Manual prohibits them from activities or jobs that “conflict with government duties or interfere with their ability to perform their job,” that “allow others to capitalize on the employee’s official title or position,” or where the employee serves “as an agent or attorney for any outside entity in matters before the District.” The DC Department of Human Resources further advises that jobs creating, or even giving the appearance of, a conflict of interest should be avoided.

Employees designated as public officials are required to disclose all outside employment or business activities that generate income or involve a formal role. The most recent filing for Laney is for 2024—before he established his law practice. 

After City Paper contacted DHCD about Laney’s outside employment, agency spokesperson Tim Wilson says in an email that the matter has been referred to the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability for review and Laney has been put on leave.

Director of Government Ethics Ashley Cooks says the advice they provide to employees is confidential, “so I can’t disclose that information. But “in general, the ethics rules prohibit employees from engaging in outside employment that conflicts with District employment,” she says.

***

Shortly before Laney’s appointment in 2019, former Legal Aid DC Supervising Attorney Beth Mellen raised concerns during testimony before the D.C. Council about lax enforcement of TOPA and housing laws on behalf of tenants.

TOPA is designed to preserve affordable housing for low-income tenants and prevent displacement and “CASD plays a critical role in achieving the purposes of TOPA,” Mellen said in February of that year. She urged councilmembers to fill the job with someone who had expertise in TOPA.  

One of CASD’s main responsibilities is overseeing the implementation and enforcement of TOPA. The law grants tenants the right to match an offer and potentially purchase their building when an owner decides to sell. CASD receives and processes TOPA filings, tracks tenants’ exercise of their rights, provides technical assistance to tenants and landlords, and oversees tenant complaints about noncompliance by property owners. 

“In my role at DHCD, I’m a neutral regulator,” says Laney, who became a licensed attorney in 2024, and started his law firm last October, according to his LinkedIn profile. In 2015, Mayor Muriel Bowser appointed Laney as the deputy director of the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Affairs.

But few, if any, tenants who turn to his department for help find relief. According to Wilson, out of the 60 TOPA complaints received by DHCD between May 2020 and May 2025, none have been resolved in the tenants’ favor, primarily due to incomplete or unproven appeals. 

The tenants at the five-unit building at 4021 Third St. SE thought they did everything right after they received notice from their landlord in September 2023 that the property was up for sale. 

They organized a tenant association (the first step in exercising TOPA rights), and in October of that year submitted the registration and letter of interest to the landlord requesting documents required by TOPA, including the sale contract, building floor plan, itemized operating expenses, and the rent roll, which the seller was obligated to provide within seven calendar days. But the landlord’s agent, Dan Crosby, never responded as he’s legally required to do.

One month later, the owner, 1146 17th Street NE LLC, sold the property in violation of TOPA, prompting the tenant association to file a complaint with CASD, according to court records. (Crosby is listed as the LLC’s registered agent; Stephanie Kohan and James Strasbourger are listed as the beneficial owners.)

Laney rejected the tenant association’s petition, writing: “At this juncture, because the Property has already been sold, the Division does not have legal authority to remedy the potential violation of your rights. The Division is tasked with regulatory enforcement which occurs before a violation occurs. Because the tenant association’s rights appear to have been violated, your situation is now a legal matter for which you will require an attorney’s representation.”

The tenants appealed Laney’s decision to the D.C. Court of Appeals, arguing that the agency’s refusal to act was arbitrary and legally flawed and that DHCD has broad enforcement powers, including the ability to issue orders, impose fines, and seek court enforcement—even after a violation has taken place. The appeals court sent the case back to DHCD in June of last year, and Laney issued a new decision—this time granting the petition and finding that the landlord failed to negotiate in good faith with the tenants. 

After a lengthy fight to get DHCD to confirm that their TOPA rights were violated, the tenants filed suit in D.C. Superior Court this week against the landlord and the new owner, Bapky LLC. 

Another Court of Appeals ruling, in February 2024, sharply criticized DHCD for mishandling tenants’ TOPA petitions. 

That case started in 2021, when landlord Vaughan McLean LLC sought to sell hundreds of units it owned in the McLean Gardens condominium complex. (Beneficial owners of the LLC include Michael Albert, Christie Heberle, and Richard Cohen; all of them list an address in New York City.)

The landlord claimed each of the units were single-family homes and were therefore exempt from TOPA. (The D.C. Council exempted most single-family accommodations from TOPA in 2018.)

But a group of tenants objected in petitions to DHCD in September 2021, arguing that because the buildings contained multiple rental units—and had previously been classified as multifamily housing—the sale should trigger TOPA’s stronger protections, including the right to purchase.

Laney rejected the tenants’ petitions in July 2022, concluding that the units were single condominium units and therefore covered by the exemption. 

The tenants, upon discovering that their landlord communicated with Laney in private, asked for the decision to be reviewed again about a week later, which Laney again denied. In their request, the tenants highlighted the private communication as a “shocking violation of one of the most basic norms of the legal practice.”

Tenants appealed Laney’s decisions, and again the Court of Appeals found significant problems with his analysis.

“Because DHCD’s rulings contain factual findings not supported by substantial evidence and legal conclusions for which we cannot discern a basis, we reverse DHCD’s denial of these petitions and remand to allow DHCD to provide more complete and accurate grounds for its decision,” the court ruled in February 2024. 

***

Last October, the Council passed the Rebalancing Expectations for Neighbors, Tenants, and Landlords (RENTAL) Act, which eliminated TOPA rights for large swaths of tenants. 

In a Zoom meeting earlier this month hosted by the trade group called the Small Multifamily Owners Association, Laney spoke directly to the landlords in attendance on the law’s implementation.

Laney explained that property owners seeking to claim the new construction exemption to TOPA—which, he said, could also apply to renovated buildings—must notify tenants before March 31 that the property is no longer subject to TOPA. But, he added, there is no penalty for failing to send this notice.

Laney said the new rules now require DHCD to issue written certifications of TOPA compliance, which can be filed with the Recorder of Deeds, within five days of receiving notice from an owner. According to Strauss, this change will make it more difficult for tenants to bring successful TOPA complaints.

Strauss adds that the previous CASD administrator, Lauren Pair, “was very personally motivated to find the right answer and make what she considered to be good law. Terrance has been more procedurally oriented. … You couldn’t really have a lengthy phone call with him on the merits of anything. So they had very different styles.”

In response to a question from a landlord about TOPA transactions, Laney advised, “I would push that person to talk to a lawyer, because when you’re talking about specific actions I can take that are favorable or disfavorable to me in this process, that’s bordering on legal advice.”